


Fake Smiles and Masks Made of Skin

by therealassistant



Series: DRV3 Remnants of Despair au [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Gen, No Anime Brainwashing We Despair Like Real Men, a tad bit gory at the end but it isnt that graphic so i didnt rate it M, also ignoring the animes awful excuse for how everyone got into despair', like you have to squint to see them yet theyre still there, remnants of despair au, subtle spoilers for the main game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 13:33:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10742700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therealassistant/pseuds/therealassistant
Summary: No one liked her for who she really was. Actually, no, scratch that, everyone but one person didn't like her for who she really was.





	Fake Smiles and Masks Made of Skin

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little side project for an idea I've had for awhile. Just a bunch of side stories, and if enough people like them, I'll try to update faster. Of course, I'm still working on my other fic, I'll just write stuff like this for when I'm having writers block.
> 
> Anyway, I don't own Danganronpa in any way, shape, or form (besides the few games I have played), so please don't sue me.

Tsumugi Shirogane was just an ordinary girl, going to an ordinary high-school.

Well, neither the school she went to, or her, although she thought otherwise, were normal. After all, the high-school she went to was Hopes Peak Academy, the school everyone can only dream of going to. Yet here she was, one of the students in this amazing school.

That didn't mean that she felt out of place, though.

Everyone at the school was so... Energetic, different, and almost outlandish in some of her classmates cases. How the school accepted a boy that could almost build robots out of nothing, yet could barely interact with his other classmates, she could never understand. What she could never pinpoint was why the school picked someone like her, though, someone that was so... Ordinary? Yes, that was the right word for it. 

Maybe it had to do with her talent, although the personalities she developed for all those fictional characters she masqueraded as were interesting, Tsumugi herself was not that interesting. She wasn't going to complain about that aspect of her personality, though, although she sometimes does not like to wear the cosplays she creates, she only does it out of love for the character she is cosplaying as. Still, that didn't change who she was. She was just Tsumugi Shirogane.

Boring, dull, uninteresting Tsumugi Shirogane. 

Although, there was one thing she did enjoy about Hopes Peak Academy.

The school had created a project of sorts, a practice for the students to work together with other students outside their classroom, or to maybe even, somehow, get better at their own talents by working together. Tsumugi had almost rolled her eyes at this idea once she heard about it from her teacher, before thinking a little deeper about it. She would have to write a letter to someone else in the school, and knowing Hopes Peak Academy, it was someone that had a talent similar to hers. Who knows, maybe they like anime too.

It could be just like in Durarara, and maybe they could becomes friends over these letters! Although, the characters in that anime became friends over chat boards, not letters that were hastily written and crumpled before being placed inside a tiny box in Tsumugi's classroom. Still, everyone seemed to like the idea as well, even the Ultimate Tennis Player, who rarely talked to anyone, deposited a thin envelope into the box in front of the room.

Of course, she worried about whether or not her "pen-pal" would respond. The letters were only optional, after all, and it's not like anyone **really** wanted to talk to someone as dull as her.

Still, once the teacher for her classroom placed a pink envelope on her desk, she couldn't help a hint of a smile to appear on her lips as she read the name in the corner of the envelope, telling her that the sender of the letter was indeed her "pen-pal".

Junko Enoshima

###### 

_Dear Tsumugi,_

_I can call u that now, right? We are, like, totally friends after all now!!! I thought this whole letter writing thing would totz be a snooze fest, but its just been so much fun writing to you! I totally get what youre saying though, this school is insane if they think these letters r really gonna do anything...._

_Seriously, though, I can understand what u said in your last letter, and I totz feel the same way? Like, no one really cares about my personality, only my boobs and such, since Im the """Ultimate Fashionista""" after all lol. Still, those talents rly shouldn't, like, restrain u or anything...._

_How about this. We talk face to face about everything, and... Try to see how to help each other out? mono e mono or whatever? lol, anyway, Im running out of paper! write back soon!_

_Yours truly, Junko_

Tsumugi stared down at the letter in her shaking hand, before nearly tossing it onto the desk in front of her. After only a few letters from Junko, Tsumugi decided that she would only read the letters, and also write the letters to Junko from her dorm room. She placed a hand to her chin as she stared down at the letter in front of her, her face almost neutral if it weren't for the beads of sweat down her face.

At some point, she had given up on trying to understand Junko, not even bothering to even point out the grammatical mistakes in the other girl's words. She wasn't stupid, she knew who Junko Enoshima was. Hell, the better question was who **didn't** know who Junko Enoshima was. She was just wondering why such a popular icon would want to hang out with her, the most boring, uninteresting person in the school.

Still, she did open up to the fashionista last time she wrote to her, detailing about the struggles she had with her talent, as well as her friend making abilities. Why she did that, even she couldn't understand why, all of these pent up emotions suddenly just left her, and all Junko could say in response was that she understood?

Well, maybe she just couldn't write down her emotions properly? Or maybe she was just shocked by the sudden "rant" she just put in her latest letter. The two of them have been writing to each other for about two months now, the least Tsumugi should do is apologize.

Slowly, the cosplayer took a deep breath as she sat up, nodding her head in determination as she came to a conclusion. She would apologize to Junko, face to face, she owed her that much. And if Junko wanted to talk, then they could still talk. No harm done.

Tsumugi Shirogane almost laughed as she finished sewing her latest mask together, ignoring some of the red stains from the back of the mask that stuck to her gloves. Luckily, the rest of the costume was done, and just on time too. It had taken forever to find just the right cloth for the outfit. She hadn't made any outfits in what almost felt like forever, but with the Ultimate Pianist's help, she was able to find just the right fabric.

It had been almost three years since that fateful conversation she had with Junko Enoshima, and barely even one month since the fashionista's death.

She had mourned for her, as all the other remnants did, in their own ways, of course. Personally, she didn't try to steal any of the Ultimate Despair's body parts, unlike the Ultimate Artist and Ultimate Detective, but had decided to mourn for her friend in another way. In the only way she knew.

Tsumugi Shirogane was a boring, dull person. She didn't let her talent rule her life, especially after that talk she had with Junko. No, she decided that the only way to not be boring and to have everyone love her was to share her talent with the world by having the inhabitants of this awful planet become her material for her cosplay. Well, at least for the masks.

She sighed in relief as she finished the mask, small cuts on her hands from where the needle sometimes pricked her hands, an old clumsy habit of hers she just couldn't get rid of, and just marveled at how amazing it looked. Yes, the stitches were obvious, but they would, hopefully, fade away with time. 

She smiled as she stood, her long, flowing blue hair almost catching on the bloody and beaten bodies around the chair she had sat on, the skin on them torn and covered in a fabric much similar to the gloves Tsumugi wore. Her workplace was coated in blood, the room almost too small to house the many supplies she needed to create her cosplays. Still, she somehow managed to fit something into the corner of a room. A small, stone slab, with the words "Junko Enoshima" carved into it.

She thought of putting the grave outside, yet quickly shook away this thought. She only went outside to gather food and water for survival. It was the other remnants that usually gave her the materials for her cosplays, and she would rather keep her isolation that way.

Slowly, almost carefully, she tiptoed over towards the small grave she had made for Junko, even if she didn't have her body, the heels she wore tapping a rhythm she couldn't quite understand.

Maybe she picked it up from the pianist while the other was visiting her? She would have to ask her when she visited Tsumugi again.

She placed the mask on top of the slab of concrete she had carved into with great difficulty and care. She bowed her head, her hands in her lap as she spoke. After all these years, she sounded a tad bit timid, yet she could easily converse with anyone if the time came, her voice barely a whisper as she spoke.

"Junko, it has been three years since we first started to write to each other. Although you are gone, the despair your death has left behind still lingers within me... Thank you, for introducing me to despair and giving me a chance to open up to the world..."

The Ultimate Cosplayer glanced over towards her work desk, where what seemed to be two flashdrives lay, extracted by two Monokuma heads that were dropped off by a crying magician. The redhead was obviously upset by Junko's death, yet she didn't seem to realize the importance of the Monokuma heads just yet.

"I... Also thank you for... Assinging such an important task to me, of all people. It is an honor..."

As Tsumugi looked back up, she could almost swear the mask of Junko Enoshima's face smiled in delight.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow alright I actually had a lot of fun making this? I know it's short but I hope you all still enjoy it. Which character do you want to see next? I do plan on writing all of the drv3 cast becoming remnants, yet I want to know what you all want to see. Anyway, comments are appreciated and welcomed! I hope you're all having a nice day/afternoon/evening!


End file.
